


Time Heals Jack Squat (or: A Merwho Valentine)

by artemyspyke



Category: Doctor Who, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Happy Ending, M/M, Many songs could fit this fic, Think: 1000 years, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-08
Updated: 2013-03-08
Packaged: 2017-12-04 15:51:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/712428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemyspyke/pseuds/artemyspyke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor surprises Merlin with a visit on Valentine's day. What could he possibly want?<br/>Implied Merthur.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time Heals Jack Squat (or: A Merwho Valentine)

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically a Valentine's fic, but I could only post it on my FF.net ghetto, and I'd rather repost it here.

The day starts out fairly normal.

In fact, Merlin doesn't even realize that anything is wrong until he's standing on his front porch after his morning run by the lake. His breathing is slowing down, and he's mid-way through unzipping his jacket, when he notices.

His kitchen window is open. In February.

Merlin reaches for the wooden door handle.

The house itself if very old, built by the sorcerer around two hundred years ago, when the first traces of the the village around Avalon lake were starting to appear. Now the town is large, bustling with activities and tourist aplenty. Strangely enough, no one swims in the lake. Even in the summer. And no one dares to put a boat in its waters. On a regular day, this thought would make Merlin smile. Instead, he twists the old brass knob, and pushes on the oak door.

There's silence in the house. The seemingly-young man toes off his muddy trainers, and pads down the hall. Then he rounds the corner.

And there's a box in his living room.

Of course, its not an ordinary box. And it's certainly not a cardboard box, or anything of the sort. It's large, taking up a chunk of the room, and nearly brushing the ceiling. Chipped paint covers the wood. It's vibrantly blue, which dulls the color of Merlin's carpet. Vaguely, he thinks how strange this would look to an outsider. His recovery would be astonishing. But alas, he's been in this same situation around fifty years before, so this was nothing new. The TARDIS had ruined his damn carpet  _then_ too.

"Doctor!" Merlin snaps, striding across the floor. "Out you get!" And the Doctor does.

"Merlin!" he cries. "Happy Valentine's day!" The sorcerer just glares.

"What are you doing here?"

" _What?_ A time-traveling alien can't drop by to wish his friend a happy holidays? What's the bother?" The Doctor asks. He steps out of the TARDIS, and adjusts his blue bow-tie. Merlin gives him an appraising look.

"Bit different from the last time I saw you," he comments lightly. The Doctor laughs.

"About fifty years younger, don't you think? Fancy!" He does a dance on bow-legs. Merlin smiles a little bit.

"What do you need?" the sorcerer prompts. The Doctor stops mid-shimmy, and his smile fades just a little.

"Well... do you remember the last time I was here?" he asks. Merlin nods, because yes, he does remember. Something twists in his gut. "'63, I think it was," the Doctor continues quietly. Merlin nods again. The Doctor jolts back into movement then, with another tight smile.

"Well, I'm just recently back from a... rather nasty... trip to New York, and you just happened to pop into my mind. I've been thinking that, since I couldn't really help much with... certain things... last time I was around, that I'd make up for it now! What do you say?" he asks excitedly. Merlin just looks at him.

"What problems?" he asks then, feeling the smallest bit spiteful. "The Daleks, or the fact that it is now year one thousand, one hundred and-" he looks emphatically at his own blank wrist, "- _twelve_?" The Time-traveler winces. He stops, where he'd been pacing moments before.

"Merlin-"

"No, because really," Merlin continues sharply, "What could you do for me  _now_  that you didn't do fifty years ago? Unless you've got an  _Arthur_ in that fancy box of yours?" His voice had raised, without him realizing it. The Doctor stops moving completely, and fades. He looks sad as he drops down next to Merlin on the couch.

"Look," he says, voice losing all traces of childhood in it, "I've lost people too, Merlin. Important people. What I'm trying to do for you now is ease some of your loss, and then maybe..." he trails off with a great Timelord shrug, "help me forget about some of my own for a time." They're quiet for several beats. "So what do you say now?"

Merlin looks at the young bright man in front of him, and sees only age and sadness. Beneath his tweed jacket and funny hair is a world of responsibility that the warlock recognizes as something he carried once. It's easy to recognize a hero by the slump of their shoulders.

"I honestly can't think of anywhere that I would rather be than right here," he tries with a tired smile. "Waiting on a prat." The Doctor nods his head, disappointed. But Merlin's not finished, because he says, "Then again, I can't very well let you spend Valentine's day  _all_ alone, can I?" The change in the Doctor is hilarious. He perks up, and the lines in his face disappear. Even his bow-tie seems brighter.

"I know just the place!" he cries, leaping off the sofa. There's much commotion as he snags Merlin by the wrist, and the sorcerer has just enough time to snatch his phone off of the sofa table, before he's forcibly pushed inside a telephone-time-machine, and the town of Avalon disappears around him.

When the TARDIS lands with a familiar jolt, and the terrible grating sound that it makes, Merlin is thankful. He shakes out his hands, and massages his knuckles. He may have gripped the hand rail too tightly.

"Here we are!" The Doctor announces, stepping away from the console. Merlin nods, and smiles.

"Which is where, exactly?"

The Timelord just  _tsk_ s, and leads Merlin to the door again. "It's a bit of a walk," he says apologetically. "I hope you don't mind." Merlin doesn't at all. Together, both men - impossibly old and impossibly adventurous- exit the TARDIS, and enter immediately into a forest. Merlin nearly hits a tree.

"Okay, seriously,  _where_  are we?" he asks again. The Doctor just grimaces, pats Merlin on the head, and yanks a small compass out of his jacket pocket.

"Well, our direction is, uh..." he spins on the spot for a moment. "That way!" And he begins to walk. Merlin just closes the Time-machine doors gently, and follows his eccentric guide.

True to his word, the path that the Doctor takes him on  _is_ a bit of a walk. But it's pleasant. The air is cool, and sun is filtering through the trees. There's a stream nearby, which babbles quietly. Something is familiar about the place. Well, something is until the Doctor stops short in front of him, and Merlin collides with the tweed back.

"Ow!" he complains, watching his shaken balance. The Doctor doesn't say anything, just looks around with a shrewd eye. He lifts a finger to his lips.

"We're going to have to be quiet from here," he murmurs. Merlin's only a little bit worried.

They walk for several more minutes; it's just enough time that Merlin is thankful for his hoodie. He stuffs his hands in his pockets absently, and has just quick enough reflexes to avoided hitting the Doctor when he stops short again.

 _"Damn,"_ he whispers. The Doctor grins, and turns to look at him. Something is sparkling in his eyes. Merlin looks at him questioningly, but the Doctor just turns around. He moves quietly another few feet, up behind a large bush, and waves Merlin over. Then he parts the shrubbery with one hand.

And Merlin is sure that his heart stops.

Because on the other side of the shrubbery, is… Arthur.

The Prince, in all his royal glory, is laying underneath a tree just ten feet away. His eyes are closed. A gentle breeze plays with his golden hair, and Merlin feels his eyes prickle. A thousand years it's been since he's seen him. And when Arthur opens his eyes, they're just like Merlin remembers.

He nearly calls out, but the Doctor puts a quick gentle hand over his mouth. Merlin looks at him frantically, and receives a shake of the head. The only thing he can do is turn back to look. But now  _he's_  there. What? Yes, his own counterpart is approaching with two sacks, breathing hard and looking betrayed. That Merlin drops the supplies on the ground. Arthur laughs.

"Took you a while," he says. The Merlin behind the bush clamps his own hand over his mouth, and doesn't try to stem any of the tears. Arthur is right there, happy and healthy. It's more than he was ever hoping to see again.

"Yeah, well," his counterpart complains, "You could have taken your own stuff." Arthur laughs. And Merlin remembers what happens next, suddenly. Because he knows he's lived this before. Sure enough, Arthur grabs the other Merlin's hand and tugs him down with a surprised  _oof!_ They tussle for a moment, he gets his hair ruffled, and then Arthur drops him and lays back down. The trees overhead move with the wind.

"Prat!"

"Fool."

"Clot-pole"

"Dollop-head!"

"That's my word!"

"Well, I've stolen it." Prince Arthur turns his head, and looks at his servant. The other Merlin is laying next to him, and they both grin. It's something the present Merlin hasn't thought about in centuries. He pulls away from the bush, careful not to alert the others, and wipes his eyes. The Doctor sits patiently beside him. He smiles. It takes several minutes before the pair on the other side of the foliage begin to move. Merlin has to restrain himself from jumping out of the bush, hugging that stupid prince, and never letting him go again. But he can't, he knows that. So he watches as his old self and his better half pick up their bags, and begin to move again. They were hunting that day, Merlin remembers.

When they've finally left, Merlin has to wipe his eyes again. The Doctor peers through the underbrush once more. But they're really gone. So he helps Merlin to his feet, and they go back.

The entire ride home to the Avalon Village is silent, save for the sounds of the TARDIS and the Doctor's quiet humming. Merlin hasn't felt so many emotions in forever.  _That's time_ , he muses silently,  _it heals all wounds._  Except for it doesn't. Not really. Merlin knows now that it's only dulled the ache inside him. It's only stalled that desire, that  _need_  to see his king again. Because Merlin is only half of his own story. He needs Arthur to ever be whole again. But he also knows that he can do that now. Seeing the Once and Future King reminded him exactly what he was waiting for. And Arthur would count on him to wait forever, if that's what it takes.

So Merlin does wait.

The Doctor drops him off, and the warlock thanks him profusely. They hug. The Doctor promises to come back and visit again. Merlin's sure it won't be soon. But like he said, Merlin is ready to wait again, if it takes one more minute, or one more millennia.

So he says, "Happy Valentine's day!" And the Doctor says it right back. Both men- one an alien, the other a sorcerer- grin at each other in mutual understanding. Then the Doctor adjusts his bow-tie like one would tip a hat, and slips back into his time machine. There's a grating noise, the large blue box disappears, and Merlin frowns once again at his newly ruined carpet.

Funny thing, Time.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
